HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-BPW-2007-04-18BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Committee of the Whole Meeting 4:45 p.m. April 18, 2007
PRESENT:
Mayor Peterson
Commissioners (5) - Jenkins, Chapman, Schlather, Tripp, Wykstra
OTHERS PRESENT:
City Attorney - Hoffman
Superintendent of Public Works - Gray
Assistant Superintendent of Streets and Facilities - Ferrel
Assistant Superintendent of Water and Sewer – Whitney
Common Council Liaison – Coles
Deputy Director of Planning & Development – Cornish
Executive Assistant – Grunder
EXCUSED:
Commissioner Dotson
DAC Liaison Roberts
ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA:
Mayor Peterson requested the addition of a Report from the City Attorney on the
Contract for Services with O’Brien & Gere.
No Board member objected.
Mayor Peterson distributed the Collegetown Vision Statement to Board members for
their information and explained that it would be discussed at the Planning & Economic
Development Committee meeting this evening.
Alderperson Coles requested that item #5 – Water & Sewer Bill for 1021 Hector Street
be moved up on the agenda.
No Board member objected.
Supt. Gray suggested that items #2 – Citizen Pruners Organization and #5 – Water &
Sewer Bill for 1021 Hector Street be discussed first.
No Board member objected.
Commissioner Schlather requested an update from Supt. Gray on “Lou’s Hot Dog
Stand” request for use of electricity use on The Commons.
No Board member objected.
CITIZEN PRUNERS ORGANIZATION – FURTHER DISCUSSION:
Ms. Monika Roth, Extension Educator, Cornell Cooperative Extension, addressed the
Board to explain that Citizen Pruners has been a program that has been a partnership
between the City of Ithaca, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and the Urban Park Institute
at Cornell University since 1991. She stated that this program grew out of the Shade
Tree Advisory Committee. She explained that this is a program that Cooperative
Extension volunteers and City staff have been very committed to for the last 17 years.
They work in conjunction with the Police Department to keep sidewalks and the street
side free from low hanging branches, and in the parks they work to clear out the low
brushy growth to prevent hiding places, and they also work to clear branches that
obstruct stop signs. She explained that they have anywhere from 15 to 25 volunteers
per year, and they work two to three days per week from May to October. She reported
that if they were to use the Federal rate for volunteer labor, which is high, at $18.00 per
hour that is a value that is returned to the City of about $27,000.00 based on 1,500
hours per year on average of volunteer hours. She stated that she feels this is an
important contribution to the City and since its’ been done for many years they are very
good at it as well. She further stated that for the last few years funding has come out of
the City Forester’s contract budget line but this year that money is going to be needed
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for other things. She requested that some accommodation be made for funding the
program this year as well as considering a separate budget line for this program in the
future.
Deputy Director of Planning and Development Cornish distributed a resolution from the
Parks Commission that was passed unanimously on April 14, 2007 in support of funding
the Citizen Pruners Program. She explained that the Parks Commission often
discusses problems of maintenance at City parks and between citizen pruners and the
beautification brigade the City is often able to get trained volunteer help to resolve some
of those issues. She also stated that citizen pruners is made up of city residents who
take pride in their neighborhoods, who take ownership in what they’re doing, and she
thinks that it speaks well for the City of Ithaca to see that there are volunteers who are
so willing to give so much of their time each week to do a really great service for the
City.
Asst. Supt. Ferrel stated that this program was directly funded through the City budget
for quite a few years and then cutbacks were experienced in the 1990’s which resulted
in that budget line being eliminated. He stated that funding was provided through the
Parks and Forestry contract services line which is a line that was used for a number of
years for removing very large or dangerous trees. He explained that at this point the
City’s crew has been trained and they do most of that work now. He explained that this
year there was a need to replace their tree inventory software package and provide
training. The software that they had been using no longer has support for it because
the company that sold it to the City no longer exists. The City Forester purchased the
new software program from a nationwide company that has been in business for 175
years and staff was just trained on its use within the last two weeks. The City will have
to look to other places within the existing budget to provide funding for this program or
make a request to Common Council for additional funding for this year.
Supt. Gray explained the department continued to fund this program even though the
budget for it was eliminated because it is such a valuable service to the City. He
explained that it’s work that the City would still have to do because brush still needs to
be cleared away from stop signs, low hanging branches need to be removed, but better
than that is getting the young trees pruned and shaped which makes them much
stronger as they get older. It also gives the pruners a chance to learn pruning skills or
for some of them to just practice them, and it does great things for the appearance of
the City. He stated that the department would absolutely have to find somewhere else
in the budget to support this valuable program in the future because it would cost the
City much more money to do this work in-house.
Extensive discussion followed on the importance and value of the program, previous
funding sources, possible future funding sources, how the pruners interact with the City
Forester, how work is delegated, and supervised. The Board and staff expressed their
sincere support and appreciation for the program and directed staff to take the
necessary steps to provide funding for the program within the existing 2007 budget and
recommended the inclusion of this program in the 2008 budget.
Mayor Peterson summarized for the record that there is unanimous support for the
program and that staff should look for funding within their existing budget and if there is
an issue to come back to the Board
The Board agreed.
Mayor Peterson asked Deputy Director of Planning and Development Cornish if there
had been a volunteer from the Parks Commission to participate in the off-leash dog park
discussion group.
Deputy Director of Planning and Development Cornish responded that it did come up at
the meeting but there was not an enthusiastic response since the Parks Commission
had recommended against an off-leash dog park. She stated that she would be happy
to fill that position and relay information back to the Parks Commission since she
provides staff support for that meeting if that would be helpful.
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April 18, 2007
Mayor Peterson responded that it would be helpful if Deputy Director of Planning and
Development Cornish could plan to do that.
Water & Sewer Bill for 1021 Hector Street:
Marta Weiner, property owner, joined the Board for discussion of this item and
explained to the Board that behind her house on Hector Street is their swimming pool.
In the winter the pool is not used, however a pipe burst in the middle of February that
goes to the bathroom in the pool house and she had no idea that there was a leak until
someone came to repair a phone and discovered it. As soon as she found out she
turned the water off to that pipe, but in the meantime they lost a lot of water. Barbara
Frycek, from the Water Department, called to tell her that they were going to charge her
$5,000 for the leak and when she explained what happened, which was the pipe
bursting and the water going out over the yard, Ms. Frycek said that they could take off
the sewer charge which results in the $2,500 charge. She explained that she is retired,
lives alone, and on a fixed income with Social Security and a small IRA. This is a lot of
money for her and she is requesting the Board’s consideration of her appeal for the
large water bill.
Supt. Gray explained that historically property owners are charged for the direct
expense of the water because that cost is incurred by the City and the money has been
spent. He further explained that the City doesn’t usually charge the property owner for
the sewer bill because it didn’t go down their sewer. He further stated that the City does
have a history of allowing the property owner to work with the City Chamberlain’s office
to arrange a payment plan that is in keeping with what the property owner can afford.
The current practice is to charge a 10% surcharge on an unpaid bill and he would
suggest that the property owner talk with the City Chamberlain to see what those two
parties are willing to work out mutually between them; whether it’s paid back over the
course of one year or paid back over several years.
Alderperson Coles stated that she understands the importance of adhering to a
particular way of handling cases like this. She further stated that she is sure this is not
the first case and it is also very decent of the City to recognize that since the sewer was
not used in this instance for that amount to be deducted from the bill. She would entreat
the Board to give particular consideration to the fact that this is a senior citizen who is
trying to remain in her home and try to keep the particulars of this case in mind when
making their decision.
Asst. Supt. Whitney stated that in the water and sewer regulations it doesn’t permit the
City to do anything other than what Supt. Gray has mentioned already and typically a
letter is generated by their department to the land owner and they arrange with the City
Chamberlain to pay it back.
Extensive discussion followed on the floor regarding how the City handles these types
of large water bills for accidental leaks and what options are available to property
owners to work with the City to make payment. The Board was sympathetic to Ms.
Weiner’s hardship appeal and the responsibility she has as a property owner to pay for
the water provided by the City.
Supt. Gray and Asst. Supt. Whitney explained to the Board how the City Chamberlain is
very willing and able to make special payment arrangements with property owners to
pay these types of bills by spreading payments out for up to a few years so that
payments are manageable and acceptable to the property owner.
Further discussion followed on the new automated meter reading system that will be
used by the City in the future which will be able to do remote readings every week or
two so large leaks of this type should be detected much earlier and be less costly.
Further discussion followed regarding what interest and penalties are assessed to bills
and how that process is followed in the Chamberlain’s office. The question was raised
as to whether interest or penalty fees were ever waived.
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The Board requested that staff, representatives from the Board, the Supt. of Public
Works, City Chamberlain, and the property owner meet to discuss a payment schedule
and provide a resolution for the Board’s consideration at their May 9, 2007 meeting.
Ms. Weiner thanked the Board for their time.
Approval of Minutes – Power To Act – Resolution:
By Commissioner Schlather: Seconded by Commissioner Wykstra
RESOLVED, That the minutes of the September 7, 2005 through December 21, 2005,
February 1, 2006, February 15, 2006, April 19, 2006, and May 3, 2006 Board of Public
Works meeting be approved with noted corrections.
Commissioner Chapman stated for the record that he doesn’t feel that the Board is
dealing with the minutes in a proper way, so he will not be voting to approve them. He
stated that looking through Roberts Rule of Order they claim that it is impossible to
intelligently discuss minutes after six months and here we are way beyond that and we
have members who weren’t present when we had the original discussions. He thinks
that it puts them in a bad position to have to vote on those minutes. He further stated
that as far as clear public record, he doesn’t believe that is what the Board is providing.
He further stated that he doesn’t believe that this is staff’s problem; it’s the Board’s
problem because it allows it to happen. He explained that when a meeting starts and
the Board allows it to go on without minutes from the previous meetings, it’s the Board’s
fault. The Board should not proceed with other agenda items until some sort of minutes
however short and to the point are approved.
Mayor Peterson explained that the only requirement for minutes is that they show
attendance and a record of formal votes. However, that’s not what we’re accustomed to
and we are striving to include some discussion in the minutes.
Asst. Supt. Ferrel stated that the minutes are important for history. He further explained
that he frequently refers to old minutes to see what happened at some point so the City
could address something correctly or in the way it was intended.
A Vote on the Resolution resulted as follows
Ayes (5) Schlather, Tripp, Wykstra, Jenkins, Peterson
Nays (0)
Abstentions (1) Chapman
Carried
Golf Course Employee Rate Proposal – Discussion:
Mayor Peterson stated that this proposal was brought to her attention by the President
of one of the six unions in the City. She explained that he had surveyed members of his
union to see who are golfers, where they golf and whether they would golf at the City
Golf Course at a certain employee rate because people are not currently utilizing the
City’s Golf Course. She further stated that it seemed that all employees should be
entitled to a special rate and not just a certain union if this is going to be considered.
She stated that this topic also came up in the Labor Management Health Insurance
Committee which discusses wellness in the work force in an attempt to find ways for the
City to keep its total cost of health insurance down. This has come up in the past with
the Fire Department who raised the question of employee rates for other recreational
activities in the City such as the swimming pool. She explained to the Union President
that she would bring this topic to the Board for their consideration.
Asst. Supt. Ferrell stated that he talked with Golf Course Manager Torrant about this,
and he didn’t express any strong feelings one way or the other and thought it would be
fine.
Discussion followed on the floor regarding the benefits of a physically fit work force and
how that would assist in keeping health insurance costs down since the City is self-
insured.
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April 18, 2007
Further discussion followed on the possibility of extending employee rates for the pool,
skating rink, and possibly recreational activities provided by the Youth Bureau. A sub-
committee consisting of Commissioner Chapman, Asst. Supt. Ferrel, staff from the
Youth Bureau and Cass Park will meet to review this request and make a
recommendation to the Board.
Updates:
O’Brien & Gere Contract for flora, fauna, and scoping work – Discussion:
City Attorney Hoffman explained that there was discussion last week about the need to
begin the ecological assessments of plants and amphibians that are getting active right
now; there was also a discussion about the scoping process for the environmental
impact statement. He stated that the Board passed a resolution last week about the
use of the balance of the funds in the capital project. The total amount that was put in
that account originally was $119,600 of which about $44,000 has been expended so far
as of his last checking with the controller’s office. He explained that last week the City
received a proposal from O’Brien & Gere for the ecological assessment work for spring
studies for a total cost of up to $51,500. He has prepared a proposed addendum to
O’Brien & Gere’s contract that was intended to allow the spring assessment work and
the scoping work to move forward, however, when that proposal came in it exceeded
the balance in the Council authorized capital project account. He spoke with Steve
Eckler and Rick Gell, from O’Brien & Gere, this morning and what makes sense at this
point is to execute an addendum that would cover the spring assessment and do a
separate addendum for the scoping work. It certainly could be argued that scoping is
part of the existing, original contract so he doesn’t think there is anything that would
prevent them from starting to do work on the scoping right now as long as they are
comfortable doing that without the addendum. His recommendation would be that the
City not enter into an addendum for the scoping work until there is enough money in
that account to cover the proposal.
Mayor Peterson left the meeting and since Commissioner Dotson was excused from the
meeting, Commissioner Jenkins assumed the role of acting vice chair.
Supt. Gray explained that he hasn’t had a chance to review this request with the City
Attorney and City Controller and the earliest that authorization from Common Council
could be obtained would be June, unless the Board calls a special meeting.
Acting Vice Chair Jenkins asked if the Board felt there should be a special meeting next
Wednesday, April 23, 2007.
All 5 Board members agreed that there should be a special meeting next Wednesday,
April 23, 2007, to consider funding for the water plant including a resolution requesting
increased funding for the project.
Water & Sewer Work – 100 Block of North Aurora Street – Update:
Asst. Supt. Whitney updated the Board on the Water & Sewer work on the 100 Block of
North Aurora Street. He stated that the crew has hit more or less a standstill, they can’t
dig the trench any further, even with the tightest steel plating that they’ve done to
prevent the earth from moving in, whatever the fill is under the old water main, it travels
underneath the steel shields no matter how far they drive them down, so they are going
to have to replace the water main. It’s an old water main, of lead joint type and a short
length pipe and if it was a modern pipe with restrained joint or there were good soils
underneath it, either one of those conditions would have permitted them to dig the
sewer as deep as they are right next to it, but with both of them, they can’t do that
without risking losing the main for the entire block, so it’s going to take about three
weeks to lay the water main, pressure test, disinfect the main and connect all the
services over, before they can resume with the sewer work. The good news being that
at that point both the water and sewer lines for that block will be replaced and they won’t
have to look at being back in there for any major work for the next seventy-five to one
hundred years.
Supt. Gray stated that the bad news is that three weeks have been added to the
schedule.
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April 18, 2007
Asst. Supt. Whitney stated that they projected to finish that block by the second week in
May originally.
Discussion followed on the floor about how this delay would affect commencement
weekends and business on that block. Further discussion followed on the need for
signage for the public to explain the status of the project and projected completion date.
Parking Behind the Library:
Commissioner Schlather stated that he noticed that library employees are able to park
behind the library by just driving past the new garage.
Supt. Gray explained that they’re not supposed to do that however there are eight
parking spaces there. The library has a twenty to thirty foot swath of land that overlaps a
piece of what was the City’s land on the east side and there are parking spaces there.
Commissioner Schlather stated that there was probably thirty cars parked there this
morning. He happened to be heading over to City Court, and he noticed all the cars and
the sign said for library parking only. What occurred to him was concern about the need
for handicap parking for the mental health building and the parking that library staff is
using extends almost all the way over to the mental health building. It would be quite
easy to put some handicap spaces there that would allow people access to the mental
health building.
Supt. Gray stated that staff would investigate the area, but that he thinks that
Commissioner Schlather may be referring to some of the construction parking, because
he thinks some of the contractors still have control of the old Lot D and they may have
their construction crews park there. His understanding was that the police department
who has been trying to park in their lot across from the police station has found the
traffic so heavy because of the bridge being out, that they moved some of their parking
over behind the garage right by the police station. He explained that allowed them to get
out into traffic better than trying to use their driveways.
Request for Electric on The Commons
Supt. Gray explained that Lou Cassaniti made a request for electrical service on The
Commons. He stated that the City routinely over the years has denied requests for
electrical service for people who wanted to use an electrical mobile vending cart. The
City doesn’t consider those mobile and the electrical service is actually very
problematic. As he understands it, although Mr. Cassaniti operates off propane for his
cooking, he wants to add ice cream and take an ice cream cooler out there, plug it in
and sell ice cream. Mobile ice cream sellers usually use dry ice and other things to
meet that need. Staff will tell you why we prefer not to do this is because once we do it
for one vendor, we’ll have to do it for all vendors. There are a lot of people who would
like to be able to mobile vend and electric carts are a lot cheaper than the propane and
the other types of carts.
Commissioner Schlather asked that this item be put on the agenda for formal discussion
at the first meeting in May.
The Board agreed.
Commissioner Jenkins complimented the street cleaning crew, and stated that they are
very efficient, that the street looks good, and they are not playing when they say that
they will tow your vehicle.
Rimland Project Update:
Supt. Gray explained that staff from the Planning Department had approached him
again regarding the Rimland Property. He explained to them that there were very
specific reasons why the Board approved the resolution the way it did and it didn’t have
to do with utility access. Apparently Mr. Rimland is now proposing a hotel and to make
individual rooms work it is harder to do on a tapered site and he wants a little more
room to do that which would require the Board’s approval.
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April 18, 2007
Commissioner Schlather stated that the Board’s concerns were that there are other
public utilities such as air space, safety issues pertaining to air space and future public
use of the property. The Board has already spent a great deal of time discussing this
project and the proposal that was brought to the Board last week was identical to the
original plan.
Commissioner Chapman stated that the proposal does not affect the City’s ability to
provide the services needed by the public. He further stated that a nice structure there
would enhance the Commons and he may be the only Board member that feels that
way, but he would consider another proposal from Mr. Rimland if it were to come back
to the Board.
ADJOURNMENT
On a motion the meeting adjourned.
Sarah L. Myers Carolyn K. Peterson
Information Management Specialist Mayor